In recent news, the developers of Superhot VR have updated their game to remove all scenes relating to self-harm. Previously, Superhot VR let players choose whether or not they wanted to watch these scenes, but it looks like the Superhot team is taking this a step further and have pulled them entirely from their Steam version. The Superhot team explained their decision in a recent blog post:
All scenes alluding to self harm are now completely removed from the game. These scenes have no place in superhot virtual reality. We regret it took us so long.
The scenes in question involved forcing the player to shoot themselves and walk off of a building in VR: Both of which could act as intense triggers for players who have struggled with self-harm in the past. By removing these scenes from their game entirely, the Superhot team has made their game a more enjoyable experience for a wider audience, but unfortunately “fans” of the game online were quick to express their discontent upon seeing the new update go live.
Superhot VR is now being review-bombed on its’ Steam page. Angry gamers blame PC culture and “snowflakes” for the scene being removed, but the fact is that forcing a player to engage in self-harm during a VR experience is a potentially triggering element of Superhot VR that offered little more than shock-value to the game. Now that the developers have taken time to look back at their game, they’ve decided that these scenes are no longer representative of who they want to be as a team, and that is OK.
Luckily, as Kotaku reports, Valve has already begun isolating “off-topic” negative reviews and removing them, a move which will hopefully give more players a chance to see what Superhot VR is really about: Off the wall, time-defying FPS gameplay in virtual reality.
As of now, only the Steam version of Superhot VR has had the scenes removed, but the game’s developers seem dedicated to making sure that these changes are universal across all platforms carrying Superhot VR. Hopefully, these changes will give players who would otherwise avoid scenes of self-harm a chance to enjoy the game for themselves.
Superhot VR is available for $24.99 on most VR platforms.